Portrait of the disabled in the media

Abstract

Disabled people, like everyone else, draw a part of their self‐concept from the media, yet there is scarce attention paid to the image of the disabled in the media. Over a three‐week period, newspapers and prime time TV programs were examined to determine the image of the disabled person as well as the general theme of the programs in which the disabled person appeared. Of the total exposures (TV and newspapers), the major themes which emerged were the needs for special services (30%), successful adjustment (22%), problems of adjustment (21%), and the bizarre correlates of handicapping conditions (14%). In terms of image, the major portrayal involved the disabled as a dependent person (49%) rather than as an independent (25%), abused (13%), or deviant (11%) person. Intramedia differences revealed that newspapers (as compared to TV) were more likely to present the need for special services and to present problems of abuse of disabled people, and were less likely to present problems of adjustment. Between disability groups, only 22% of the total exposures dealt with mental handicaps, and none portrayed the person as fully capable, whereas 33% of the items dealing with the physically disabled presented an image of a capable person.